Savings & Sacrifices
by Zombie Kitty
Summary: Story related to the Cat & Kira series, though Cat isn't even in this! Is really a Rimmer, and Lister story, set before the accident that killed the crew, AND in series 8. Final chapter now up.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Wooooh HEY PEOPLE I'm BACK! (half hearted yay from crowd) Right yes ahem well I don't own owt so you can screw your law suits!Other stories on standby for now but develop on them soon!

Aaaaaaanyway this is the mark of a new cat/kira story and though it doesn't seem like that, all will become clear soon, much more Rimmery than anything else but this is an important companion to my upcoming 'Red Dwaf - The Alternate Series VII/VIII' a totally cat/kira thingy that most of you who read, review and put up with my daily rants know are in production, Oh and by the way my video is finally done! as all my 'friends' (SI, BEX, LAR, ALEX, ROB, OZZY STEPH!...and others) will know when they wake up at a reasonble time to find me raving about it! (currently 12:30am) So read on! & search the imdb Red Dwarf forum to find the link if you are weirdly intrested int watching my vid!

**Saving & Sacrifices**

Lister growled in annoyance at Rimmer as the latter left the room in a huff - After gaining permission from the prison guard of course. Lister flopped down on his bunk when the door had shut with a resounding clunk, and had brought out his Holly Watch.

"I can't take this much longer Hol! He's driving me nuts!" Lister moaned as he ran a hand through his tangled dreadlocks.

"Who's driving what now?" Holly replied in a dazed, monotonic voice.

"Rimmer." Lister sighed melodramatically.

"Oh HIM!" holly said, with faint recognition.

"When he was a hologram it wasn't too bad, he changed he became more tolerable but now it's just like it was before the accident, he's a completely unfeeling smeghead who would not give me or Cat or Kryten or any of us a second glance unless it was to help his own cowardly career.

"I'd like to agree Dave but you know you're wrong."

"No I'm not! He never did anything to help me the entire time he was alive! He didn't do much when he was dead either!" Lister protested eagerly.

"Ok maybe he didn't do it on purpose, but he did save you're life." Holly replied sincerely.

"You what?" Lister half said, half shouted in an incredulous voice.

"Half a mo, I'll dig the tapes out of my memory banks."

"You've kept whatever is on them, all this time?"

"Amazing what you think might come in handy!" Holly replied almost on the verge of sounding happy, as his image faded and a sketchy black and white image of his old bunk room took its place, Lister couldn't see anyone, but he could hear running water…

* * *

…Rimmer ran a last hand through his hair and turned off the shower. He partially opened the door and grabbed a perfectly folded towel from the rack on the wall. He wrapped it round his thin pale body and climbed out, shivering as the cold hit him. He looked round but Lister wasn't there. 

"Probably off bumming around in a drunken daze." He muttered bitterly as he wrapped a dressing down round his flesh and sitting down on his bunk as he suddenly felt so tired. He closed his eyes and yawned, though a short sharp squeak caused him to open them again in surprise, he looked round but could see nothing unordinary, upon hearing the squeak again he climbed onto the floor and looked under the bunk, he was just about to stand up again when a flash of something down the ventilation shaft caught his attention. He crawled over and opened the cover; he peered inside and blinked as something leapt t him through the darkness.

"Smeg!" He cried tumbling backwards, he tried to sit up but found he was pinned down by whatever had jumped him. He raised his head to find a rather heavy cat perched on his chest, who was rather uncomfortably looking for the opening in Rimmer's dressing gown so she could make a nest.

"Get off me you fur ball!" Rimmer protested as he tipped the cat off and stood up, tightening the belt round his robe as he did. The cat lumbered around for a moment before clumsily jumping up onto Rimmer's bed and curling up.

"You have GOT to be kidding me." Rimmer muttered as he sat on the bed next to the cat. The cat unravelled itself and squeaked pitifully before climbing on top of Rimmer.

"Shift you rat bag." Rimmer warned though the cat ignored his protests. Rimmer lifted the cat up and looked deep into her eyes. He tried to look firm but found his anger melting.

"Lister is in big trouble bringing you here." He cooed involuntarily. "My God you weigh a ton don't you?" He said softly placing a hand on the cat's stomach. Suddenly he felt a small kicking against his hand.

"Smeg he's not been feeding you curries?" Rimmer said letting go of the cat who dropped onto Rimmer's lap and began drooling into his dressing gown. Slowly the cat's state of motherhood dawned on Rimmer.

"Smegging hell! How longs he had you?" Rimmer wondered aloud, unconsciously stroking her soft black, feather like fur.

At that moment Rimmer heard a drunken Lister coming down the corridor with someone… Peterson maybe with him.

"Sssssshow me the way to go home! I'm tired an I wanna go to bed!" The pissed voices sang as Rimmer unhooked the cat's pummelling claws and dumped her – gently- onto the floor.

"Byesey Selby 1! Byesey Selby 2! Byesey Selby's 3, 4 and 5!" Lister laughed giddily as the door opened and Selby tipped Lister into the room before hitting the lock button on the outside and continuing his journey along to his quarters, completely oblivious to the fact he had just seen a pregnant cat sat in the middle of his mate's room.

Lister slumped against the door for a moment before plunging forward to the beds and failing. Rimmer caught him and struggled for a moment before unloading Lister onto the bottom bunk and breathing deeply as his lungs tried to recover what oxygen Lister had expelled from him by the force of his dead weight landing on Rimmer's chest.

Rimmer turned and leaned against the wall, he held out his hands, surprised at how shaky they were. He felt his stomach knot in the way it had in his childhood just before his brothers beat him, his father has began the compulsory game of "Do You Want To Eat Tonight?" or his dorm mates searched his meagre packages from home to take what they wanted.

He blinked and tried to decide what was wrong, he wasn't in fear of pain or starvation but he knew that he could loose his joke of a career if he hid the cat and protected Lister but if he gave Lister in, they would kill her, on the plus side Lister's joke of a career would be over but for some reason Rimmer wasn't sure if he could let the cat's death be on his conscious.

"This is stupid!" He told himself firmly. "I don't even like cats! They are fleas ridden mongrels with all the morality and intelligence of a finger biting lemming!" He ranted as he spun round and faced the cat.

"Don't look at me like that!" He moaned in a softer voice covering his eyes to protect himself from the moggie's gaze.

"I'm going to be an officer! Make something of my life! What have you got to look forward to? Eating, giving birth and maybe a bit of incest slipped into a time of exploring and caring for more little rat bags!" Rimmer insisted before shaking his head in shame and grabbing his colour coded revision time table smeared in sauce from Lister's 'accident'. He closed his eyes and slowly ripped it in two, then 4 then… a very large number, he flung the pieces into the air and he and the cat watched as they fluttered softly onto the floor, the cat began to pounce lazily at a few of the pieces while Rimmer stifled a sob as the anti mess dustpan and brush came wheeling out of it's storage place and swept up the pieces.

"It took me 6 weeks to make it what have I done?" He hyperventilated, a suicidal expression on his face…


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Red Dwarf is copyright of Grant Naylor, etc... - Not me!

Hey guys! I wonder how many of you have forgotten this story existed! I know I'm still posting new storys... New stories that will take ages to finish, like the Tomb Raider fic and the Resident Evil fic - But I've decided to try and get some of my older story's finished off as I have like 8 or 9 in progress out of the 39 online! Ao expect a lot of work on this story especially over the next few hours/days...

* * *

"…PAUSE! Holly, as much as I enjoy a suicidal looking Rimmer tearing up his revision timetables and talking to a cat… What the HELL are you showing me this for?" Lister objected folding his arms then realise in doing so he was smothering Holly and held his arm out again. 

"Yuck don't do that again or I won't come up with any good plans to help you escape!" Holly warned as his face screwed up in disgust.

"You HAVEN'T come up with any good plans to help us escape!"

"See, I've started already!"

Lister sighed. "I wish you had a neck Holly."

"Why's that then?"

"Then I could strangle you!" Lister hissed matter of factly before ripping off the watch and throwing it across the room.

"This is a perfectly good watch you know! Tells the time and all!"

"Holly just smeg off ok?" Lister pleaded as he leaned his head against one of the metal rungs of the bunk bed ladder.

"Not until you watch the rest of the film."

"Why?"

"It's just getting to the good part!"

"Good as in it cuts to the women's shower or good as in Rimmer is humiliated?" Lister asked raising his head slightly.

"I would have to say the latter Dave… You really don't like this 'pre death' Rimmer do you?" Holly asked as Lister shuffled over and picked up the watch.

"It only took you three million and somat years to work that out?"

"No I mean –"

"I know what you mean Hol, I know you brought him back to keep me sane and it worked, and he gave up any chance of happiness to do that, This guy is nothing like him, he's not noble or brave… well neither was our Rimmer but a smeg of a lot more than this guy is." Lister finished his… speech and winkled his nose in confusion.

"My god it's like marriage guidance!" Holly muttered as he un-paused the recordings…

* * *

… "Don't look at me like that!" Rimmer moaned at her again as he tried to snatch a few of the pieces of his timetable back from the auto cleaner. 

"I need that! I need this life, it's what I was BORN to do! I can't be a failure all my life! I have to do something GOOD, if I passed my exams I could proof to my parents and Captain smegging Hollister that I'm not totally useless! … I could prove it to myself… Rimmer suddenly looked up with a start as the slumbering Lister snorted in his sleep and began to wake up slightly.

"Smeg, smeg, smeg, smeg, smeg, smeg." He muttered over and over as he paced the floor, kicking the cleaning thing as it retreated back to base. Rimmer stuffed the few bits of timetable grasped in his hands into his pockets and cleared his throat purposely as Lister's eyes opened sleepily.

"Lister what is this?" He said as indignantly as he could.

"Wha?" Lister replied, his head lolling about on the bunk.

"This!" Rimmer answered, pointing at the as yet unnamed moggie (FRANKIE!)

"S'cat." Lister slurred closing his eyes again, they popped open again after a few seconds as a little warning light flashed on his brain. "sssssmeg."

"Smeg indeedy, did you think this wouldn't go unnoticed? You're in for the high jump matey!"

"We going sssswiming?"

Rimmer shook his head and wondered if the act was really worth it, Lister was more drunk than 'uncle' Fred on Christmas day.

"No Listy, we're not going swimming." He said softly before adding in his mind 'But it feel like I'm drowning.'

"GOOD! Dun like sssswimining! Too wet!" He cried, his arms flailing about madly.

"Lister… LISTER!" He yelled slapping Lister's cheek.

"Wha?"

"Where. Did. The. Cat. Come. From?" He asked slowly and clearly as Lister rolled his eyes about, not focusing.

"Followed me home?"

"Git."

"Love you too Rimsy!" Lister slumped forward and began to snore noisily.

"Lister… LISTER!" Rimmer cried but to no avail… "Lister look! A curry kebab… Smeg!" Rimmer watched the lump that was Lister in silence for a few seconds, then very slowly and calmly he turned and banged his head on the table.

"This."

(Thump)

"Is."

(Thump)

"Not."

(Thump)

"Happening."

(Thump)

He straightened up then after blinking a bit and shaking his head, he turned to reassess the problem.

"I'm so screwed."

Lister heaved in his sleep and his eyes shot open. "Gawd I feel…"

"Lister don't even – " (Lister throws up all over Rimmer's bed) "…Think about it…"

"Wasssn't me!" Lister protested lamely as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Oh who was it then? The sick fairy?" Rimmer yelled, his anger pushing all other feelings out of his mind.

"Dats jussst ssstoopid! – Wasssss Frankie!" Lister slurred as he rolled to the other side of the bunk to get away from the offending area.

"And who is Frankie? You're little demon friend who tells you what to do each day to piss me off and how to get yourself on report?"

"No… His name's Gerald."

"Of course, why didn't I realise that before? I must be so stupid!" Rimmer shouted sarcastically as he slammed his fist down on the table before wincing slightly at the pain.

"We agree on ssssomethink then." Lister murmured as he yawned loudly.

"What's that Lister? Insulting a superior technician? You're going on report m'laddo and I think I'll tell all about your little CAT problem and all!" Rimmer hissed as he began hunting round for his report book.

"But I aven't got any rats."

"That's because you already ARE one Lister!" Rimmer hissed back as he continued searching for his report book. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't right this incident in my report book RIGHT now?"

"Coz I nicked it when you were in the sssshower?" Lister slurred with a yawn and a giggle.

"What? WHY?" Rimmer squeaked angrily.

"Partly coz you've been driving me nuts with that thing… But mostly coz I wanted to see your face when I told ya!" Lister smirked happily in his drunken state.

"You're in very serious trouble mister!" Rimmer stated, as authoritivly as possible.

"I know – She drank all me milk rations!"

"Lister, this is a CAT! An unquarantined animal in a potentially dangerous situation! – The results could be lethal!" Rimmer ranted as he paced round the room.

"You're right – You might ACUTALLY be able to memorise enough long words to pass the engineer's exam this time!" Lister joked as he manoeuvred round the pile of drunken sick and landed on the floor in a clumsy heap.

Rimmer scowled at Lister's sprawled out form. "Despite your uselessness, I'll have you know Lister – This time, I'm going to pass!"

"I said I was sorry, anyways, I think vindaloo improves it!" Lister added as he slowly managed to get into a sitting up position.

"Improves it? IMPROVES IT? You DESTROYED the colour coding system! You've completely wrecked my revision timetable!" Rimmer argued, glancing at Frankie and resented the fact that despite his shouting, she was rubbing up against his leg and purring.

"You're the one who spent six weeks MAKING it, instead of REVISING!"

"Don't get smart with me." Rimmer snapped as he folded his arms.

"Why? You on learning drugs and looking for a follow up on 'I am a fish'?" Lister retorted as he dragged himself to his feet.

"At least I'm not the lowest rank on this ship!" Rimmer spit back as he sat down at the table again.

"I'm not! – What about Frankenstein?" Lister said as he stumbled up the ladder and onto his bunk.

"Who?"

"Cat." Lister replied simply as he closed his eyes.

"Besides the fact it is an illegal animal, why on Io did you call it Frankenstein?" Rimmer asked despondently as Frankie squeaked and with a sigh he lifted her onto the table.

"It was horror night when I got her." Lister said sleepily.  
"Should have known. Might as well make our farewells now Lister – Wouldn't want the automatic door to crush you on the way out!" Rimmer replied half heartedly, though Lister didn't reply, and was beginning to snore noisily.

Rimmer let out a deep breath and held his head in his hands, beginning to feel like he couldn't take any more stress, though he smiled slightly as Frankie lovingly head butted him. Then he frowned, wishing he didn't find her as comforting as he did…


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Me own nothing!

Right, well here's chapter 3! Just so everybody knows I am hating fanfic right now as I'm not getting reviews, instant messages, or chapter updates sent to my email inbox... oh well, anyway I have finished the story now, so will put up the forth and final chapter as soon as I've posted this...

* * *

"…Pause. Holly I don't remember that!" Lister said confusedly as he ran a hand through his dreadlocks. 

"Just because you don't remember it for been too pissed, the hologramatic Rimmer didn't remember it for it was absent from it's database, and the currently alive Rimmer doesn't remember it as he was resurrected before these events took place – It doesn't mean they didn't happen." Holly stopped and screwed his face up, checking what he had said had mad sense… mostly anyway.

"You really talk a load of smeg." Lister said with a shake of his head. He thought for a moment, and then sighed. "Gah… Play."

* * *

The clock on the black box said now said they had jumped forward a few days; Rimmer was sat at the table, biting his nails in an extremely nervous manner. He suddenly scowled at his chewed fingernails and folded his arms, replacing the action with his foot tapping uncontrollably. 

Ever since he had found out about Frankenstein he had been on edge more than usual. First he'd found out Lister had forgotten their conversation from the night before, and then he realised he was constantly worried Frankie would be discovered and he'd be court marshalled too. He also wished he just didn't care, so instead of spending what time he had left before his exam revising, he had been thinking up ways of protecting Frankie – As well as feeding her – It was amazing how she'd managed to survive on watered-down milk for God knows how long!

It had taken a while, but Rimmer had come up with a plan, and now it all hinged on one thing – How pissed Lister was when he came home tonight.

Rimmer's thoughts were interrupted as he heard a large thump hit the door. He exhaled deeply. "Unlock." He said, causing the doors to open and the human known as Lister to come tumbling to the ground in the doorway.

Rimmer went over and gave Lister a small nudge with his foot – He seemed even more drunk than last time!

He bent down and with difficulty managed to get Lister into one of the table chairs. Then he took a deep breath and slapped Lister as hard as he could round the face.

Lister woke up with a start and began to flail around. Rimmer stepped back and opened the grate, and lifted Frankie out.

"Calm down Listy – Now, would you like to hold Frankie?" He asked as cheerfully as he could through gritted teeth.

"Yes Daddy." Lister mumbled back.

Rimmer froze for a second, at Lister's words then gently lifted Frankie into Lister's arms.

"Now hold her carefully while I take a picture." Rimmer said soothingly as he picked up a camera from near the sink. "Say cheese." He added half heartedly, causing Lister to stand up and the picture of him and Frankie to be taken in a kind of candid camera pose.

"Good boy." Rimmer said as he put the camera on the table and lifted Frankie out of Lister's arms, and back into her basket. He then placed the camera in a small box and filled in the details for it to be sent to have the film developed – making sure his writing was scrawly and messy so could be mistaken for that of a drunken Lister. He then placed the box outside their quarters to be picked up by the post skutter.

After helping Lister up to his bunk, Rimmer sat down on his own bed. He had finally put his plan into action – All he needed to do now was return to normal for the next few days and try to revise for his exam. Then, when Lister was put into stasis for the crime he would have know more annoying bunk mate, he would feel like he had upheld his Space Corps duty, and he would find someway to be able to keep Frankie hidden, for he knew even if Lister didn't that Hollister would still have the cat killed once Lister was in stasis – Just as he knew Lister would choose stasis over Frankie's death…

* * *

"PAUSE! The BASTARD!" Lister yelled loudly, whacking his knuckles on the bunk ladder. 

"What's wrong now?" Holly asked in a bored manner.

"What's wrong? WHATS WRONG? He was the one who ratted me out to the captain – THAT'S what's wrong!" Lister ranted before hugging his hand to him and sucking on the blood forming in a scrape across his knuckles. "I'd that that picture had got taken by me when I was blind drunk! Not by someone else when I was blind drunk!"

"Yeeees, but if he hadn't done that, you would have died, your pet Frankenstein would have died, Cat and the whole Cat race would have never existed, we would have never found Kryten or any of the weird, mysterious things we have, you wouldn't have gained another chance to get it together with Kristine Kochanski, and the crew would have never been recreated." Holly finished monotonously, though pleased that he has said something sensible.

"God I hate it when you're right." Lister muttered grumpily. "So is that what you wanted to show me? – The home movie session is over yeah?"

"Not exactly, there are two small snippets I want to show you, that I think you will find particularly interesting.

Lister sighed and rubbed the back of his hand on his trouser leg to wipe away excess blood and saliva. "Go on then…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** (To tune of Big Ben chime thingy) No, no, no, no. No, no, no, no. I don't own owt, errr no I don't.

Well here it is! The final chapter, and I wonder who's making a little guest appearence...

* * *

...The date now told Lister that this was the day after he had gone into stasis. Rimmer was stood in the captain's office – Recovered from his exam attack… 

"Rimmer, where is the cat?" Hollister asked sternly before biting into a clotted cream cake.

"Errrr what cat sir?" Rimmer asked back, as innocently as possible.

"The cat that has been under your nose for the past few months!" Hollister snapped back, spraying crumbs all over his desk.

"With all due respect sir, does that make it under your nose too?"

"RIMMER! I don't know what your getting from keeping that cat hidden – Everybody knew you hated Lister, but for some reason your are, and we need that cat! If that cat is allowed to live ." Hollister opened his mouth to continue but was interrupted as a young female officer, who had been standing in the doorway for some time, made her way into the room.

"Excuse me sir, but here's these reports you asked for." She said, glancing quickly at Rimmer.

"Thank you Olivier. You're dismissed." Hollister said quickly.

"Erm sir, just one thing, I'm carrying out some experiments with light speed in the lab, but I need a cardboard box with holes in to complete my theory, may I get some from storage?" Kira asked, looking pointedly at Rimmer who nodded as their eyes met, understanding each other as Rimmer silently mouthed the words 'Air Duct'.

"Of course you can woman! You're a Science Officer – Not a smegging Technician!" Hollister retorted bossily as Kira saluted, and exited quickly…

* * *

"Pause… Hol, what's Kira got to do with this?" Lister asked quietly. 

"Kira knew what was going to happen Dave, as Cat had gone back in time and talked to her, she knew she couldn't let history change by Frankie dying, so she took the box to your bunk room, hid Frankie and her basket in it amongst a few plants as a cover, and hid her in the hold.

"Why didn't she tell any one when she got out of stasis?... And why did you film all this but not report it?"

"I'm not physic Dave, I don't know why she never told anyone, but the reason I never reported it because I happen to be an animal lover!" Holly replied, in a way that said 'If I had arms I would so be folding them crossly right about now!'

"Ok, ok… You said there were two more pieces of film you wanted me to see – what's the other one?" "Half a mo…"

* * *

"Captain's Personal Log. Four main things to report, the first is Science Officer Kirs Olivier has voluntarily gone into Stasis today, therefore suspending all of her future pay, the second is that that Holly is become temperamental and is even refusing to search for Lister's still unfound cat. I am beginning to believe that he or Rimmer reprogrammed Holly so as to protect the cat's whereabouts. The third thing is in reference to the ship, one of the Drive Plates appears to be malfunctioning. I have ordered Rimmer to fix it – Which leads me to the forth thing. I know he is neither trained nor qualified to do the job, as he told me himself about 10 minutes ago, however I gave him some line about wanting to give him more responsibility, truth is I just want to see him screw up so I can get a professional to fix it, and then Court Marshal him for putting the crew and ship at risk…"

* * *

Holly stopped the recording and Lister thought deeply for a moment. "…He's still a smeghead." 

The End


End file.
